Independence: Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles set to vote for freedom a week after national referendum

07:01, 27 Mar 2014

Updated 16:24, 27 Mar 2014

ByScotland Now

ISLANDERS from Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles have lodged a petition with the Scottish parliament asking for a vote on September 25, as they bid for more power.

Share

Get weekly news by email

Flickr

Islanders from Shetland, Orkney (above) and the Western Isles have called for their own breakaway vote

RESIDENTS of three groups of remote Scottish islands have called for their own breakaway vote.

Islanders from Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles have lodged a petition with the Scottish parliament asking for a vote on September 25 - a week after a referendum on whether Scotland should end its ties with the United Kingdom after 307 years.

Local councils in the three island groups have also launched a campaign called “Our Islands, Our Future” in a bid to gain more powers after the independence referendum. The moves follow debate over the powers that Shetland and Orkney would have if Scotland became independent, with local officials saying that around 67 per cent of North Sea reserves lie within their coastal waters.

Orkney and Shetland, with populations of about 21,000 and 23,000 respectively, were under Norwegian rule from the ninth century until 1472.

The Western Isles, also known as the Outer Hebrides that lie off western Scotland, are home to about 27,000 people with the picturesque island chain a popular tourist destination.

Nationalists insist Scotland can be a prosperous nation with oil money to offset its relatively higher state spending and forecasts of oil and gas revenue of between £31 billion and £57 billion between 2012-2013 to 2017-2018.

But residents, wary of governments in both London and Edinburgh that they accuse of ignoring their needs, are keen to rule their own resources, including the control of the sea bed around the islands.